Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1887-09-24

do with numbers employs easily enough in
multiplying i.y number of three or four
digiis, writing down the product al once
in a single line, beginning from the right.
But each successive digit of the result is
obtained by 4 separate process, which even
with four figures only in the multiplier
gives quite as much to be mentally re-
tanned as even an expert cares for. I'm
agine, however, the mental work Bidder
accomplished in multiplying by number
Of fifteen figures In the middle of the
multiplication the process for obtaining
single digit Of the result required him to
retain in his minds eye fifteen products,
besides large sum carried over" to add
all these together, setting down the unit
figures and CARRYING on the rest. Yet Bid
der would give digit after digit Of the pro-
duct-running a course from right to left
almost rs fast rs they coald be set down.
and he never made = mistake | doubt if
one in hundred, even among practiced
compuers, could multiply together two
numbers, each of fifteen figures, and OBJ
tain the correct result at the first trial
What tends further to show that we
should regard the the power shown by
" calculating BOYS" as a sort Of cerebral
sport" is the circumstance that Bidder at
fourteen took all such calculations lightly.
He never seemed to work. When ques-
ton had been answered he amused HIM
self. with his spinning top till the next
question came. He showed better temper
than Colburn when questioned about his
methods, though it was only in his man
hood that he was able fully to explain
them. He was not only good-tempered
but full of quiet fun. To him, it would
seem, we owe familiar puzzle-at least
We can hardly imagine that, unless it had
been newly invented, he would have pro-
pounded il, as he did, to a room full of
college professors and lecturers. "When
the examination was over" says Professor
Elliott, he said 10 us: You have been
trying to puzzle me; l will try TO puzzle
you. 4 man found thirteen cats in his
garden. He got his gun, fired At them,
and killed seven. How many were there
left p Six, was the answer Wrong
he said, none were left The rest ran
away
In Bidders case the powers possessed in
boyhood were not lost with advancing
years. As his son. e. 2. Bidder, pointed
ont, shortly after his fathers death, the
elder Bidders career as an engineer fully
disproves the common idea that calculating
boys grew up into very ordinary men. But
| the evidence given by the son, in regard 10
| the inheritance of Bidders children and
grandchildren of some portions at any rate
of the qualities possessed by the ''calculat-
ing boy" Is full Of interest in It's bearing on
the doctrine of heredity, and important as
throwing light on the question whether
there Is any prospect of such advantageous
sports being permanently developed in
families, and eventually III races.
My father" SAYS G. p Bidder. was
aided, | think, by two things-first, power.
full memory Of a peculiar cast, in which
figures seem to stereotype themselves with
out an effort; and, secondly, by an almost
uncomfortable rapidity of operation. |
speak with some confidence" he proceeds.
e As 10 the former Of these faculties. rs |
possess ii TO considerable extent myself.
though not to compare with INV father.
Like him, / always see mental pictures of
figures and geometrical diagrams. Iper-
form a sum mentally it always proceeds in
visible form in my mind. Indeed. can
conceive no other possible way of doing
mental arithmetic. Another way, however.
Is common enough-that, namely, in which
the mind retains not the picture but the
sound of numbers. As 10 other members
OF my fathers family, his eldest brother.
who was Unitarian minister, was not re-
markable as an arithmetician. but had an
extraordinary memory for Biblical texts.
and could quote almost any text in the
Bible, and give chapter and verse. An
other brother was an excellent mathema-
tician. My children show considerable.
may say certainly more than the average.
but not extraordinary powers of doing
mental arithmetic" All this corresponds
closely with the results which Mr.. Gallon
has obtained in regard 10 the inheritance
Of bodily qualities and character-where
usually we find the brothers and sisters of
any one of abnormal qualities showing
more Of them than the grandchildren. be-
yond whom there is seldom anv indica
ton Of inheritance when an average is
taken, though individuals NAV reproduce
the special qualities of the great-grand- |
parent in 4 remarkable degree. OF such
individual peculiaritieS, We have an ex-
ample in the case OF the Bidder family. !
For Prof Elliott states that one of Bidders |
granddaughter once said to him: Isn't
it strange? When ! hear ANYTHING re-
ma-Eabie said or read to me ihink | see
II in print" III would be interesting if
the size and quality Of the type Of this
imagined print were noted; for it might |
serve 10 indicate the time and circum-
stances of the beginning Of this mental
habitude.) Other mental feats afford even
more striking evidence of cerebral snort
ing But l must defer their considera-
ton to another occasion.
RICHARD 4. PEoCToR.